Ottawa, ON – Today, Canada Post issued two stamps to mark Black History Month and celebrate the stories, experiences and accomplishments of two remarkable Canadians: Carrie Best and Fergie Jenkins. The stamp designs combine recent pictures of Best and Jenkins with images from their past. A photograph of a more mature Jenkins is overlapped by an image of him on the pitcher's mound. Best smiles warmly in her portrait opposite an image of herself reading the newspaper she established.
"Carrie Best was a tenacious crusader who fought not only for her own rights, but also for the rights of other women and minorities throughout her trailblazing career. Baseball legend Fergie Jenkins' hard work on and off the baseball field is well known throughout the world of sport," says Jim Phillips, Director of Stamps Services at Canada Post.
Born in 1903 in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Carrie Best came into a world in which the odds were stacked against a woman of colour. Despite those odds, Best became a role model for generations of black women with her work as a poet, author and journalist, as well as for her fearlessly determined activism. Best established The Clarion, one of Nova Scotia's first newspapers for Black Canadians, wrote a column on human rights for the Pictou Advocate and through her tireless efforts did much to bring positive change to Black Canadians across Canada.
Fergie Jenkins was born Ferguson Arthur Jenkins on December 13, 1942 in Chatham, Ontario. Fergie's pitching abilities brought him to the attention of the Philadelphia Phillies, who signed him in 1962. During his career, Fergie also pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox. He holds the 12th highest strikeout total in major league history and is the only Canadian honoured in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. In 2000, he established his charitable foundation, The Fergie Jenkins Foundation.
The stamps, designed by Victoria's Lara Minja, are printed by Lowe-Martin on Tullis Russell paper and each measure 32 mm x 24 mm (horizontal) and have simulated perforation. Printed using lithography in seven colours plus varnish, the stamps are pressure sensitive and are general tagged on four sides. The Official First Day Covers are cancelled in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia and Chatham, Ontario. The stamps are available in booklets of 10 stamps.
Additional information about Canadian stamps can be found in the news section of Canada Post's website, and photos of these new stamps are also available. Stamps and other products will be available at participating post offices, or can be ordered online by following the links at canadapost.ca/collection, or by mail order from the National Philatelic Centre. From Canada and the USA, call toll-free: 1-800 565-4362, and from other countries, call: 902-863-6550.
